Birth
by Dysthymia
Summary: The Doctor and Romana find a young woman outside the TARDIS. When the Doctor finds that her last name is familiar, he starts to wonder... 4th Doctor fic. Contains flashbacks. This story is dedicated to by beloved grandmother. AU.
1. The Girl Outside The TARDIS

Birth

A tall man with brown curls and wore a long brown coat with a very long scarf opened the door to what seemed to be a police box. He began to step out, but then looked down, his large eyes widening.

A young woman with a single long red braid lay unconscious on the ground in front of the box.

The man knelt down and felt for a pulse on the girl's delicate wrist. Finding one, he picked the girl up in his arms and carried her inside. As he stepped in, a woman with long, dark hair looked at him. "Doctor, what-"

He cut off her word by responding, "Close the door, Romana."

She looked at him haughtily, but did as he'd requested. "Doctor, who is she?"

"I don't know yet. I found her outside the TARDIS."

The Doctor took the girl into another room and laid her on a bed.

"Is she alright?" Romana asked.

"I don't know yet but there's something about her that's familiar."

"A past…friend…"

"She's more likely someone's daughter." He took a purse that had been hanging off the girl's arm. "See if you and find our who she is."

Romana took the purse, cautiously opening it and going through its contents. After a brief period she took out a small paper pouch and removed a piece of folded paper from it. "Here's a…Birth record…"

"Tell me what it says."

Romana unfolded the paper and then looked at the Doctor, who nodded.

"It says that the child's name is Cassandra Hunter, born twenty years ago."

The Doctor felt like that should mean something to him and started to think. He had known someone with the surname of Hunter…Who was is…? Finally, he thought he remembered, and remembered an event that had taken place before Romana had joined him.


	2. A Memory

21 years ago-Not long before the Doctor had to leave Sarah Jane Smith behind.

The Doctor way lying next to Sarah Jane Smith's cousin Bridget Hunter. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He'd slept with her. Why in the world did he do that?

Bridget started to play with one of the Doctor curls. He moved her hand away. "We shouldn't have done this…"

"Why? You didn't like it?"

"It's not a question of whether or not I liked anything." He started to get up.

She grabbed his arm. "Don't you get out of this bed. Don't you dare…"

"You don't understand the complications involved in this…"

"I do understand that you're trying to get up and leave me right after we had sex."

"That's the reason why I'm leaving. We're not going to do this again. Ever. There's too many risks. I don't know what could happen if a child is conceived because of this. If there's complications with the child, it will be my fault, because I did this."

"You're just making up excuses to leave."

"No, I'm not. We can't do this again."

"Then if there really would be complications, I don't care about them."

"What are you trying to get out of me? You're trying to use me for something, aren't you? Sarah Jane said you were 'messed up.'"

"Sarah Jane is Little Miss Innocent, isn't she? She's annoying. The favorite of the entire family. 'Bridget, why can't you be more like Sarah Jane?' She's just an annoying cousin. I don't want to hear her name again."

"You used me." The Doctor realized. "You used me for sex. Do you really think that's going to make you any better than her? She told me you have problems. Apparently, I didn't listen to her correctly." The Doctor pulled his clothes on and started to walk to the door despite Bridget's attempts to stop him.

"If you leave, you can't come back."

"If there is a child and I find out about it, I'll come back. "Especially if I find out that you've hurt it in any way. And if I need to, I'll take it away from you."

He walked out of the room.

Present time

The Doctor was distracted from his memories by Romana. He caught the last bit of what she was saying.

"There's no father listed on the certificate…"

"Who's the mother?"

"I already said that," Romana said, confused.

"I missed it."

Romana looked back down at the paper. "Bridget Hunter…"

The Doctor closed his eyes. "That's what I thought…" he murmured.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, go and scan for the second segment, Romana."

Romana simply stood there.

"Please." She said, taking the paper from her hands.

"Alright…" Romana looked at the room and looked back to see the Doctor studying the birth certificate and then he looked to K-9 and started to give him instructions to run a DNA comparison analysis on the girl and himself.


	3. Results

21 years ago-Before previous memory

Sarah had introduced the Doctor to her cousin, Bridget Hunter, and it was probably a mistake.

Bridget was leading the Doctor to her bedroom. He ran his hands up and down her back almost on instinct. He paused when he found his hands had found their way under her shirt. The heat of her skin was almost too much for him.

She led him to her bed and the Doctor followed despite the objections in his mind. It was something that he shouldn't do. It was clear what kind of person Bridget was.

Current time

K-9 repeated a barrage of information. He repeated his results a little too fast and the Doctor was impatient. K-9 still hadn't gotten to the point. "Just tell me if she's my child." The Doctor said.

K-9's antenna whirred. "99.9 percent possibility that you are her father master."

The Doctor sighed. "That's 'yes' the hard way." He looked at Cassandra. "How's her health?"

K-9's antenna whirred again. "Current gestation period of-"

"Whoa…K-9, what did you say? Slowly."

"'Current gestation period of-'"

"Gestation…She's pregnant?"

"Affirmative master. Current gestation period of 35.9 weeks."

"What about her overall health?"

"Health…She is well, Master."

"And her child?"

"Healthy."

A look of relief spread across the Doctor's face. K-9 wagged his mechanical tail. He had pleased his master. The Doctor kissed K-9's metal casing.

"Is Master pleased with results?" If it were possible for a machine such as K-9 to be confused, this would be closest to confusion. K-9 hadn't known the Doctor to do such a thing.

"Yes, K-9. Go and help Romana. And don't say anything about this to her."

K-9 glided from the room.

The Doctor placed a hand onto Cassandra's belly. There was a light movement below his hand. He noticed that her stomach was a semi-large bump. Why hadn't he noticed it before? He decided it was time to wake her.


	4. Waking Up

Cassandra blinked at the light as she opened her eyes. A man with curly hair stood watching her.

She tried to get up.

"Maybe you should just lie down, Cassandra." He told her.

"H-How do you know my name?" 

"I had to look for identification. I know through your birth certificate."

Cassandra shook her head, trying to clear it. "Y-You're the man in my mom's picture, aren't you?"

The man nodded. "Yes. I saw your photo album a minute ago while I was waiting for you to wake."

"What's your real name?" 

"What did your mother tell you?"

"She just called you the Doctor."

"How much did your mother tell you about me?"

She seemed to be trying to remember something. "She said that you're from another planet…and…"

"If you can't remember, don't hurt your head by trying."

She sat up, with a little difficulty. "She…She said that you're my dad."

The Doctor sighed. "I only just learnt about you a few minutes ago. I didn't know I had a child with Bridget." 

Cassandra looked rather pale. "It's not a big deal. It's not like it would have changed anything for me." She started to look even paler.

"Are you hungry? I have some jelly babies."

She shook her head and started to grow paler by the second.

"Cassandra? Are you alright?"

"Don't think so…Pain…" she started to sink.

The Doctor was quick to rush over and catch her before she could hit the floor. He pulled her up and laid her back down on the bed. "Cassandra? What's wrong? What hurts?"

Cassandra didn't say anything but she had her hands over her stomach.

The Doctor took one of her hands into his on instinct. It was obvious what was happening.

She looked over at him as if aware of his presence for the first time. "Hurts…"

"It's ok…" he told her. "You'll be just fine." He told her, even though he wasn't so sure.

He produced a silver dog whistle and blew on it.

Soon, K-9 returned. "Master?" 

"Scan her."

K-9's antenna whirred. "She is having a contraction, Master."

Romana rushed in. "Doctor, why did you call K-9 like that? I almost lost the tracer."

"I want…" Cassandra began.

"What is it?" the Doctor asked her, completely ignoring Romana.

"I want my mom…"

"Where does she live?"

"I don't know…She moved…She never calls…Never writes…Owww!"

"It's ok. What about Sarah Jane? Your cousin? Where does she live?"

She murmured an address.

"Ok, I'm going to go and find Sarah. How's that? Will Sarah be ok?"

"I want you…"

"Romana can stay with you while I get Sarah."

Cassandra tightened her grip on the Doctor's hand so hard that he went white. "I want you…Not her…" she looked over at Romana untrustingly.

"Alright, then I'll send Romana."

"She needs a hospital." Romana said.

"I'm going to take her. Do you think I wouldn't?"

"Yes. I do."

"You just don't have any faith in me. Did you catch the address?"

"No, I couldn't hear it." 

The Doctor repeated the address to her. Afterwards, he scooped up Cassandra and carried her to the TARDIS doors.

Romana followed, instructing K-9 to stay behind.


	5. Sarah

Cassandra had insisted that the Doctor stay with her all the time at the hospital.

He kept telling her that Romana was going to get Sarah.

"It hurts…" she kept repeating over and over again.

"I know." The Doctor told her.

Finally, Sarah came into the room, accompanied by a nurse. She noticed the Doctor sitting next to Cassandra, who wanted it all to stop. Sarah frowned and started to say something, but Cassandra screamed so loud that Sarah had to cover them.

Cassandra's doctor bent to examine her. "We're all ready here."

21 years ago

Sarah woke from a deep sleep and recalled that she had overheard everything that had transpired between the Doctor and Bridget. She wasn't sure if she should be angry with Bridget or the Doctor.

She got up and padded to the bathroom for a hot shower.

When she was finished with her shower, she headed to the kitchen for a bit of breakfast with a towel around herself and drying her hair with a second towel, completely forgetting that the Doctor was there.

She pushed open the door and found the Doctor and her cousin in a heated argument about the events that had taken place the night before.

The Doctor was saying something about Bridget using him to have a baby and Bridget was shouting something about how he hadn't objected to with her. Sarah was astonished to hear the Doctor call Bridget a common whore and not very astonished to hear Bridget call the Doctor a gigolo. She always called the men that she seduced that.

Sarah was shocked to hear the words that were coming from the Doctor's mouth. He was angry. She wasn't sure if she'd ever seen him like this.

Unexpectedly, Bridget noticed Sarah's presence and propositioned the Doctor.

"I told you that I will _never_ sleep with you again!" the Doctor shouted.

Sarah finally dropped the towel that she'd been drying her hair with. "Will both of you just stop it? I can't believe I even talked the Doctor into taking me to check up on you. Just because I promised your mum- - Oh!!!! You just make me so mad, Bridget. Maybe if you stopped acting like a whore, people wouldn't call you one!"

The Doctor touched Sarah's shoulder. "Why don't you get dressed? I think it's time to leave."

Sarah glared at Bridget over her shoulder as the Doctor led her out of the room.


	6. Birth

Present time

Both the Doctor and Sarah were startled to hear the cry of a baby.

Cassandra's doctor held up a bloody, squalling newborn in his hands. "It's a boy."

The Doctor released a breath he hadn't been aware that he was holding.

"Cassie, you have a little boy." Sarah whispered to her younger cousin.

Cassandra looked at the baby strangely. "Wha…How?" she seemed to be very confused.

"It's over now. Your baby's here,"

"What baby…? I don't have a baby…I've never…" Cassandra passed out.

"Cassie? Cassie, wake up."

The Doctor walked away. "I don't think she realized she was pregnant."

"How can a person not know something like that?! That's not something that you just forget!"

"People forget things a lot, Sarah. She has a slight concussion. She's either forgotten or she never realized it."

Cassandra was being looked at by one of the nurses. "She only fainted."

"Only…" Sarah muttered.

The Doctor ignored her and walked over to where another nurse had taken the baby.

The baby had continued to cry.

The Doctor reached out to touch the baby, but a nurse stopped him.

"It's ok…He's family…" Sarah said. "At least to Cassie…"

The Doctor sighed. Sarah knew. She knew the whole time.


	7. Talking

Sarah found the Doctor sitting in a chair outside the nursery. He held the baby in his arms. The infant wore a blue hat. The small baby looked up at the Doctor with little blue eyes and an almost fascinated look on his face. The Doctor had a similar expression on his own face. He was definitely that child's grandfather.

Sarah sat down in the chair next to his.

He looked at her.

"I'm sure you didn't expect all of this," she said.

"I've been a father and a grandfather before. I can deal with this." He took the hat off of the baby's head to reveal a head covered with brown, wispy curls.

"Cassie was born like that, except her hair has always been red. I knew the very first moment I saw her that she was yours. At first, I thought Bridget would straighten out, but then she just kept getting worse. She moved to the United States, started on heroin and then started to ruin her children's lives as much as she could. Cassie spent a year in the hospital when she was seventeen. Bridget left, and she left all of her children behind. One ran away before then, because she couldn't take it any more. I know that Cassie would have gone with her if she hadn't wanted to finish school. She's been determined all her life not to be like Bridget."

"When was the last time you heard from Bridget?"

"Just before she landed Cassie in the hospital for a year. And the last time I heard from Cassie was almost eight months ago. I had no idea she was even here. Cassie's a bit of a loner. I guess all of Bridget's children are loners. I know that Cassie had a friend for the past few years who was very nice to her. And he's very rich. I know that he likes Cassie, but she never showed that she liked him that way. He started using drugs and then I guess Cassie stopped talking to him. She did keep talking to his older brother though. He's a priest. He was calling me once in a while, to let me know how Cassie was, but then he stopped."

"Did she tell him that she was pregnant?"

"Father Brian? No, but he had his suspicions. I don't think he ever said anything about it to her. If he had, I don't think it would have been appreciated."

"That boy, the priest's brother…Is he…?"

"I honestly don't know. If he is, he probably didn't know."

"Did you check on her?"

"She was still asleep when I looked in on her. They'll tell us when she's awake."

A nurse walked over to them. "She's awake and she remembers everything. She wants to see the baby…and…him…he's her…"

"He's her father." Sarah told the nurse. 

"She also mentioned a Jeremy."

The Doctor looked at Sarah.

She nodded her head. "Yes, that's him."

The Doctor stood up and followed the nurse to Cassandra's hospital room.


	8. Seeing Cassie

The Doctor walked into Cassie's room.

She extended her arms to take the baby. The Doctor walked over and allowed her to take the tiny baby. "Adam…Oh, I can't believe I forgot all about you…I'm so sorry…So, so sorry…" a tear slid down her cheek. The baby stuck out a little hand, yawned, put his thumb into his mouth and fell asleep.

The Doctor pulled a chair over next to the bed. "Cassandra…?"

"Cassie. It's Cassie. I like that better."

"I like 'Cassandra' better than 'Cassie'. Do you remember the little conversation we had earlier?"

"Yeah, you're my dad and that makes you Adam's grandpa."

"It wasn't a very long talk. I learned more from Sarah than I did from you."

"What did she tell you?"

"She told me that you spent a year in a hospital and about your friend, Jeremy and his brother Brian the priest. She also told me about your mother and her drug use."

"I don't ever want to see her again. I went through too much to have to deal with her again…"

"You don't have to see her again. No one can force you to see her again. I don't want to have to see her face again, but for me, it's always a possibility."

"Because you're an alien who travels through time and space. Did you know that Sarah had a thing for you?"

"A 'thing'?"

"You know, she had a crush on you."

"Oh…Never mind that." The Doctor said, avoiding the subject. "Your friend, Jeremy, is he your baby's father?"

"No, Jeremy's not Adam's daddy. Adam's daddy left when I told him I was pregnant. I told him that if he took off on me, I would never let him see his child. And I meant it."

The Doctor nodded his head.

"That dirtbag…"

"Does your friend know about your baby?"

"I never told him. I stopped talking to him before I found out. I told him that I wouldn't talk to him until he got off the drugs."

"You talked to his brother."

"That was my way of checking up on Jeremy. He's my best friend, and I care about him."

"Did you ever tell the priest?"

"No, but I knew he suspected it. I never said anything, because if I did, it would make it possible for their father to find out. He would have thought that Adam was Jeremy's and he would have done something like trying to make Adam an official member of that family, where Jeremy's dad pays for every single little thing. That's why I never said anything."

"Are you aware that Sarah might say something to Father Brian the next time she talks to him?"

"I can't stop her."

Both were silent for a while. The Doctor broke the silence.

"I'd like you to stay a while in the TARDIS. I want to know my own child, and that's the best way I can think of."

"Tell me about that thing. Am I going to get lost in it?"

"If you do, I can find you." He spent an hour telling her about the TARDIS and K-9.

When he'd finished she said, "I'll have to think about it."

For more, go to my next fanfic, "Decision."


End file.
